A Contractor’s Job Is More Than Just Building

When most homeowners think about hiring a contractor, they think about the physical construction: framing a deck, replacing siding, remodeling a room, installing roofing, or rebuilding part of a home.

That work matters. But on many residential construction projects, a significant part of the contractor’s job happens before—and between—the days spent working in the field.

Depending on the project, there may be plans to prepare, permit requirements to research, applications to submit, inspections to coordinate, plan-review comments to address, and sometimes engineers or other professionals who need to be involved.

At L&B Superior Services, we believe helping coordinate that process is part of being a residential general contracting company.

Construction Can Start Long Before the First Board Is Cut

A construction project often begins with evaluating the existing structure, taking measurements, determining the proposed scope of work, and figuring out how the project will actually be built.

For certain projects, the next step is putting that information on paper.

Plans may need to show the dimensions of the project, structural framing, footings, beams, joists, connections, stairs, guardrails, setbacks, materials, or other details required for permit review.

Those plans aren't simply paperwork.

They help turn an idea into a defined construction project and give the building department the information it needs to review the proposed work.

For example, the City of Bend requires detailed plans for permitted deck projects showing dimensions, materials and framing details, along with a site plan showing where the structure will be located.

What Does a Contractor Do During the Permit Process?

The exact process depends on the project and the jurisdiction, but a contractor may help with much more than simply submitting an application.

That can include preparing construction drawings, gathering required project information, submitting permit documents, communicating with the building department, responding to plan-review comments, revising construction details, coordinating inspections, and keeping the homeowner informed as the project moves through the process.

Sometimes everything goes according to the original plan.

Sometimes it doesn't.

A plans examiner may request another detail. An inspector may identify something that needs to be addressed. Existing construction may be different from what could be seen before demolition. Or a particular structural condition may require additional calculations or review.

Working through those situations is part of managing a construction project.

Sometimes an Engineer Needs to Be Involved

Not every residential project requires an engineer.

Some projects can be designed and built using prescriptive construction requirements. Others may have structural conditions that fall outside those requirements or may require additional documentation during permit review.

That's where a licensed engineer may become involved.

It's important to understand the relationship between the contractor, engineer and building department.

The contractor isn't the engineer's boss, and the contractor doesn't control the building department.

An engineer is responsible for their own professional work and determines what they are willing to design or approve. The local building department has its own responsibility to review the project under the applicable requirements.

Our role as the contractor is to help connect those pieces when necessary.

We can provide measurements and project information, communicate with the engineer about how the project is intended to be built, incorporate required changes into the construction plans, communicate with the permitting authority, and explain to the homeowner how those decisions affect the project.

We can't promise that an engineer will approve a particular design or that a city or county will accept everything exactly as originally proposed.

What we can do is help keep that process organized and moving.

Why Are Building Permits Important?

Permits sometimes get treated as an inconvenience—another fee, another form and another step before construction can begin.

But there is an important reason for the process.

Building codes establish minimum standards intended to protect the people who use a structure. Permit review and inspections provide another level of oversight for construction that is required to meet those standards.

This becomes particularly important with structural work.

A finished deck might look great from the surface, for example, while the most important components are underneath it: footing size and location, post and beam connections, joist spans, ledger attachment, lateral connections, stair construction and guard requirements.

Those aren't necessarily the things a homeowner sees when looking at the finished project.

They're still part of building it correctly.

Permits Also Mean Inspections

Getting the permit is only one part of the process.

Permitted construction may require inspections at different stages of the project. Depending on the work, an inspector may need to see portions of the construction before they are covered.

That could mean inspecting footings before the next stage of construction, framing before it becomes concealed, and the completed project during a final inspection.

This is another reason planning matters.

A contractor has to consider not only how to build the project

, but also the sequence in which it needs to be built, inspected and completed.

What Can Happen With Unpermitted Construction?

Unpermitted work doesn't necessarily become a problem the day it is completed.

Sometimes the problem appears years later.

A future homeowner may discover it. A new remodeling project may expose it. Questions may arise during a property sale. Another permit application may bring previous construction into question.

At that point, proving how concealed work was originally constructed can become difficult.

Depending on the circumstances and the local jurisdiction, resolving unpermitted construction may involve additional permit applications, plans, inspections, corrections or other requirements. Finished portions of a project may potentially need to be made accessible so concealed construction can be evaluated.

There can also be financial and legal consequences. The City of Bend specifically warns homeowners that failing to obtain required permits can result in fines, legal action and complications when selling a property.

What seemed like a way to save time or money at the beginning can become a much more expensive problem later.

A Permit Doesn't Mean a Project Will Never Change

There is another misconception worth addressing: obtaining a permit doesn't guarantee that there will never be a correction, design change or unexpected condition.

Construction involves existing buildings, real-world site conditions and multiple independent parties.

A building department may request additional information during plan review. An engineer may require a structural change. An inspector may identify something that needs to be corrected. Demolition may uncover damage or previous construction that wasn't visible beforehand.

A good contractor doesn't pretend those possibilities don't exist.

Instead, the goal is to identify issues, communicate them clearly, develop the appropriate solution, and keep the homeowner informed about what they mean for the project.

You're Hiring More Than Someone Who Can Build

The physical construction will always be at the heart of what we do.

But being a residential contractor also means planning projects, estimating materials and labor, preparing construction details, coordinating schedules, communicating with homeowners, working through permit requirements, scheduling inspections, coordinating with other professionals when necessary, and solving the inevitable problems that arise along the way.

A homeowner shouldn't have to become a contractor just because they decided to improve their home.

That's part of the value of hiring one.

At L&B Superior Services, we provide residential general contracting services throughout Bend, Sunriver, La Pine, Redmond and surrounding Central Oregon communities.

Whether we're rebuilding a deck, completing a residential remodel, performing exterior construction, or taking on another substantial home improvement, our goal is to handle both the construction and the coordination required to get the project completed properly.

Because a contractor's job isn't just to build something.

It's to help get the entire project from an idea to a finished result.